Indelible
by desolate
Summary: So Naruto's been kicked out of his house. And this time around, he's got nowhere to go but to a certain blonde's apartment. InoNaruto
1. Default Chapter

WR: My quarter year's resolution is to finish what I have started. I will finish this. I will. Hah. I don't care if I have writer's block every time. And I swear, I'm not going to make this the cliché boy meets girl, girl likes boy, boy likes girl fic. I swear. On my dead hamster's grave.

Kibo: Moo. 

Desolate: So is that what you think?

Kibo: Moo.

Desolate: For a cow you're very smart. 

Kibo: Moo (_rams Desolate into the wall_). 

~*~

Getting kicked out his own house was not fun. Well, technically it wasn't his house, but still, getting kicked out of _a_ home was not a fun experience. Especially because he was still very much homeless. Now Naruto was used to sleeping around in various places – once he even found himself in the bushes with sticks prodding up his sodding arse, but he had never actually been _homeless_. It was disconcerting, to say the least. So where was he to go? Sleeping on the streets for a couple of days would provoke unwanted stares. Sleeping in someone's house would be inappropriate. Most of the guys were living with their women and would not want _him_ to disturb their nightly activities. As for the women – well, let's just say those he knew had held a justifiable grudge against him. 

"Yo Naruto!" Shikamaru jogged past him, giving him a thumbs up sign. So even the ignorant Jounin had heard of his current dilemma. 

_Gossip must spread around fast these days_, Naruto mused, yawning tiredly. 

Well, it started a couple of hours ago. He and Sakura were undoubtedly arguing about the latest piece of furniture she had bought. He wouldn't have minded so much if it wasn't so darn expensive – but she paid for it out of _his_ money. Now Naruto was not _petty_, he was just…petty. So when he brought up his argument against the piece of wood (as he liked to call it) _she_ started spewing all different types of insults at him. He had had his fair share of insults in the past, but to hear it coming out of his own girlfriend was a different thing. So he broke up with her right there and then. It was an immature thing, at best, but he had had enough verbal abusing in his life. 

"Out!" she had screamed at him. And so he went on his merry, homeless way to the streets. Without even a change of clothes (and underwear)!

"Damn it!" he muttered, kicking a few stone pebbles out of his way. He had to find a place by midnight, or he was once again, going to freeload off someone. 

"Hey Naruto," Chouji patted him on the shoulder, "I heard what happened, man. I'm sorry about it," the boy even offered Naruto the piece of beef jerky he was eating. Truthfully, Naruto was surprised at the outpouring of sympathy he had experienced – it was as though everyone thought a breakup with Sakura would totally asunder him. Well, he wouldn't want to interlude on their hospitality – so he took the food and proceeded to talk with Chouji. 

"Hey, man," he looked the other boy sincerely in the eye, "you think I can stay a while in your place?" 

Greetings of silence were what welcomed him. 

"Umm," Chouji mumbled, "I got to go now. Bye!" 

And with that, the brown haired Chuunin disappeared from his sight. 

Damn it. Another lost opportunity. 

~*~

"Ne, Ino," Sakura sighed, "What do I do? I mean, I just kicked him out like that!" Sakura buried her face in her hands. The pink-haired girl was admittedly distraught.

"Well, he broke up with _you_, right?" Ino rubbed Sakura's back, swearing she would kill Naruto when she next saw him. The boy had given her her fair share of trouble. She would love to see him suffer – not because he had caused Sakura some undisputed dilemma, but because the last time she saw him, he had caused a ruckus in her home. 

"But I know he wasn't being serious!" Sakura whined, shifting Ino's attention back to her troubled friend, "and I just kicked him out like that!" 

"Let him learn his lesson," Ino nodded in determination, "and when he finally does come running back to you, you can welcome him in again."

_Or not_, Ino thought. She wouldn't want Naruto visiting alongside Sakura in _her_ home again. 

"You sure about that?" Sakura sniffed – and admittedly, Ino felt quite guilty about her last thought. 

"Of course," the blonde smiled. "It's Naruto, he'll come back to you, I promise." 

Sakura grinned. 

~*~

Well he supposed he would have to give up his petty ways someday. It was time to get a new apartment. Preferably a run-down building that wouldn't have high maintenance costs. 

_There I go again_, he thought, mentally slapping himself for his lack of spending skills. It wasn't his fault that his first few years of living alone were surrounded by fellow friends Poverty and Economic Depression. When Iruka had gotten married, he moved out to give the happy couple personal space – he also hated Iruka's wife, but that was a whole different story. 

_The cheapest apartment district should be around here_, he thought, entering a grayed out building. 

_Walls surrounded by moss; plumbing seems to be down – must be pretty cheap_, he grinned from ear to ear. 

"Hello?" he rang the front bell twice in no succession. The damn thing was covered with rust and strange white spots. Fungi, was it? What a home sweet home it was going to be. 

"Yes?" an old man came out, greeting him with a reddened nose. He looked much like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer would after a bad hangover.   
"Have you got any rooms in here?" Naruto asked, already losing patience with the old man. For Pete's sake, he was jittering around in an annoying 'I Need To Pee' hop. 

"Sorry?" the man's dumb expression fit in well with his slurred voice. 

"Any rooms in here?" Naruto pronounced each word carefully, hoping the man wasn't deaf as well as stupid.

"Oh! You want to meet the mistress!" he said jovially – convivially even.   
"Mistress?" Naruto blinked, wondering what the hell was going on. If Mistress was some sick term for room, then he would be out of the place as soon as possible. He didn't need any more anomalies in his life. 

"Yes," the man grinned, "you here to get some mooney-mooney-nice-nice, yah?" 

"Mooney- mooney-nice-nice?" Naruto lifted his brow. Now he had never heard that term before, but he could swear it was - 

"We have many girl, yah?" the old man ran a tongue over his yellow teeth, dangling a few random keys in front of Naruto. "Now Yiba is a little feisty, but she very good, yah," he informed the blonde, "and Karina's just a doll…"

 "Umm…It's alright. Really. I have to leave," Naruto's stoic face turned a grave white, "now," he insisted, looking frantically about the place. Ah. There was the door he came through. 

"Are you sure, mister?" the old man whined, grinning like a Cheshire cat, "girl here will like you very much," he suggested, clapping his hands together before rubbing his belly.

"No really, it's alright," Naruto shivered as he ran out the noisy door, slamming it as he bit his lower lip.

_Maybe a little _too_ cheap_, he shuddered. 

~*~  
  
  


Ino had never thought Sakura, of all people, would stoop to that level for _Naruto_. She wondered what had happened to her friend –where was the girl who hated all idiots but Sasuke? Where was the girl who despised Naruto and his naïve demeanor? True, Naruto_ had_ gotten better over the past few years – hell, he had become a treasured fighter, and had somehow developed an ear for listening – but it was the same Naruto overall. Except to Sakura he was some sort of demi-god who had come down to earth especially for her

_Sakura, Sakura,_ Ino mused, _you are completely, and utterly in love with that idiot_. _I just hope you don't kill yourself over him_. 

She grabbed her remote control as she sat herself comfortably on a nearby chair. Overall, it had been one of the better days – nothing to interrupt her peace and serenity other than Sakura coming in with tears streaming down her cheeks. And the electricity seemed to be working again today. Which was good. Because normally she had to light up several packets of candles before she could work her way around the place.  

Ino sighed as she hit the power button on the remote. Once. Then twice. And then, for some odd reason, thrice before she realized the complete inevitable.

_The electricity's gone again!_ She screamed mentally, throwing her useless remote at the TV, _stupid piece of crap! And now I bet the water's dead as well!_

~*~

Three hours ago Naruto would have settled for a higher-maintenance apartment. Now he would settle for a night on the street – preferably with a few trash bags to accommodate his sleeping needs. It was terrible. Terrible. There was no other way to describe it. All the apartments he had visited were either filled with drunkards and other knick-knacks, or were like the first. The only apartment left was (God forbid it) Ino's one. 

Now Naruto had visited it once before – with Sakura of course. Ino as a hostess was more tolerable than Normal Ino. Well, except for the stone glares he had received from the woman every now and then. Nevertheless, if he did rent out a room in that apartment, he would bump into Ino – not as a hostess, but as a normal woman. And that scared him. No matter how skilled he was in the ninja department, a woman with a temper that easily broken would be able to kill him instantly. 

_Oh well_, he sighed, _I better ask if they have room, or else I might just have to be homeless after all_. 

~*~

"There's a room on level thirteen, sir," the manager informed him, handing over the rusty key to Naruto. It seemed to be in decent shape. Not too many cracks in the cement – and very few unprecedented animals running around the complex.   
"You sure the building's safe?" he asked again, sniffing the putrid air.  

"Of course, sir! Why, just because a few boards haven't been installed in the floor, and the plumbing's a bit down, and the electricity is quite dubious, doesn't mean that your safety isn't guaranteed. And besides, you're a ninja right?" The blonde Jounin nodded. 

"Seriously, what the hell is this nasty smell?" he pinched his nose. 

"That would be our cafeteria, sir." 

"How very," he struggled to find the right word, "interesting." 

"You'll be fine, sonny boy," Naruto grimaced as he received a swift pat on the back.  

"Thank you for letting me rent out on such short notice," he nodded, hopping up the levels. He sighed heavily as he approached his room. 

"Damn," he muttered, opening the door to the place, coughing as a gamut of dust found its way up his nostrils.  

To call it a room would be an overstatement. Maybe it was more like a…box. With very many holes. And water dripping down the walls – which were currently infested by strange green things that he supposed were parasitic moss dwellings. But what really caught his eye – for it was the biggest piece of art adorning the room – was the 5 foot hole stretching from one side of a wall to the other.   
"What the hell is that?" he made his way over to the hole he had dubbed as "The Thing." Reaching The Thing was like trying to reach out to a woman – entirely impossible, and if done, completely unrewarding. 

"Oh shit," he cursed. After all, who wouldn't? Yamazaka Ino's face was boring right into his own. 

~*~

WR: Fine. It sucks. It's fluffy and damn…it's fluffy. But it won't be fluffy. It really, really won't be fluffy later on. It won't even be like a cloud! Argh. I'm a big wad of fluff. There's nothing wrong with fluff. It's just that…I can never write non-fluff. Wait. I just can never write. Hah. Beat that. 

Naruto: You're crazy. 

Desolate: I know. I'm crazy for you. 

Naruto: I'm going away. 

Desolate: Wait!

Naruto: If you're going to make me star inside this fic…

Desolate: But I have many things to give you!  
Naruto: Oh, like what?

Desolate: Ramen. 

Naruto: Really? 

Desolate: Yes. And Kibo over here. 

Kibo: Moo.  

Naruto: …

Kibo: Moo.


	2. In which Naruto is surprised

WR: Alright. Fine. So I'm keeping up with my resolution and writing another chapter of this so-called story. Mostly because I needed to write something other than terribly fluffy "what did you like about WOW week" stuff. 

Kibo: Moo (_rams Desolate into the wall_)

Desolate: Hey! That's mean, Kibo!

Kibo: Moo (_jingles bells_). 

Desolate: I didn't know you had bells, Kibo. 

Kibo: Moo. 

Naruto: I gave them to him. 

Desolate: Oh. 

Kibo: Moo. 

~*~

Naruto was what one could call, surprised. Scratch that, he was astonished, astounded, amazed – but certainly not in a good way. Why, just minutes ago he thought he could avoid Ino, seeing as the two would probably not be neighbors, and therefore, wouldn't run into each other. But now there was a humongous, 5 foot hole joining the two together in a drastic display of bad luck. For some odd, unprecedented reason, Ino had moved from her previous 15th story hideout and gone to _his_ floor. 

If there was some sort of Ramen god up there, he must certainly hate Naruto. Perhaps it was because the boy often stole ramen from the store; or maybe it was because Naruto had taken away all the Ramen God's food and replaced it with dust and atomic particles. Either way, Naruto was screwed, and he knew it too. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Ino glared, hands on hips as she dared to cross the boundary between the two rooms. 

"I live here," Naruto rose up to the challenge, imitating Ino's frigid stance. 

"Well you better un-live here or you aren't going to go on a mission anytime soon," the blonde's face turned a tomato red as she gritted her teeth. It was a rather disconcerting sight – much like a bull when presented with the color red. But Naruto wasn't one to comment about little anomalies such as that. Getting his head lopped off by Ino, of all people, was just not on his top list of wants. 

"But Ino, dearest," he could not restrain himself, "why shan't I go on any more missions? Is it because you wish to bind me together with you?" It was safe to say that Naruto was to meet his grave sometime soon. 

But Ino's reaction to his vitriolic remark was terribly unexpected. The crazy woman was laughing, for Pete's sake! At what, Naruto could not tell – but if his last comment was _that_ funny, living next to Ino might not have been as terrible as he anticipated. 

"For a guy who's just been kicked out of his girlfriend's house," Ino giggled, "you don't seem very sad." 

"Maybe it's because I'm not," Naruto retorted, sending daggers in Ino's direction. What was it her business anyway? His problems with Sakura were for him alone to know – and even then, sometimes _he_ didn't fully comprehend them either. 

"Oh," Ino waved him off, "is little boy getting mad right now? Sakura's waiting at home wondering when the hell you're coming back and you've already rented a new apartment," she snickered, "is she _that_ replaceable Naruto? Did you not love her? Are you not willing to go back to her?" she spat, breaking the invisible barrier between the rooms by poking his chest. 

"Don't condemn me for what I do, Ino," he huffed, "it isn't like you're perfect either." 

"Oh, and pray tell what I have done wrong," she replied, flipping her hair in all sorts of directions. 

"Let's see," he counted his fingers, "remember Shikamaru? And that one drunken incident with Lee? Why, you thought that --…" 

"Oh, shut up, Naruto!" Ino hollered, "that was long ago -…"

"When the dinosaurs roamed, I bet," Naruto dryly added. So the woman wasn't exactly his cup of coffee – it wasn't his fault, right? They had grown up alongside each other; they had fought and bickered and glared – but they had never conversed like two human beings. It certainly wasn't his fault that Ino was a pig-headed freak. And it _really_ wasn't his fault that she could not get over her petty hatred of him. 

"You," Ino seethed, "shut up! Right now! Shut up!" 

"Nice, Ino. That's the best you've come up with all these years," he yawned. 

"Argh!" 

"That's right. Let out your anger. You are a free spirit. You shall rant and rave for as long as your soul wishes to remain angry," he repeated monotonously. 

"Asshole." 

"Once again, you are correct. Once an asshole, always an asshole," Naruto winked. "But really, if we're both going to live here, then we better make a compromise." 

"Like sealing this hole, for instance." 

"Actually," Naruto swallowed, "I rather like this hole. Besides, if we decide to repair it, think of what it'll cost us." 

"Well, I'll pay for it!" Ino declared. Screw it if she was going to sacrifice her damned privacy just because Naruto was living next to her. Besides, her monthly Chuunin wage should cover the price, right? Granted that her boss oftentimes _forgot_ to pay her, and that the cost of buying _candles_ had soared, and that she still had to _eat_ – she could still pay for reparations, right? 

"Do you know how much that costs?" Naruto roared, "I mean, it's just so damn expensive! You can't pay for it with your little Chuunin wage!" 

"Well then you'll just have to help me." 

"No way. I'm leaving the hole right there," Naruto stomped his foot, "just think of it as a decoration." 

"Jackass," Ino muttered. 

"I should give you a medal." 

~*~

"Wait," Sakura needed time to breathe, "so he's living next to _you_ now?" 

"Yes." 

"And has he mentioned anything of us?" her fingers trailed the phone cord. 

"Nope." 

"Well then, it's final," Sakura sighed. No matter how much Ino protested, she knew Naruto more than anyone. The only way he would ever finalize a matter was by shutting up about it – and Naruto was doing exactly that with their relationship. 

"I still don't understand," Ino whined, "what the hell do you see in him? For all I know, he's a jackass." 

"Naruto?" Sakura laughed, "a jackass? Nowhere near it. He helped me out a bit after the second Chuunin exams. Told me about…everything basically…so I could pass the next time. And for once," Sakura sighed, "for once it felt like I had an equal. Never mind that he was better than I was at everything," she bit her red lips, "never mind that I could never equate his abilities – he was just Naruto, inside and out. He was Naruto when he taught me, he was Naruto when he talked with me, he was Naruto when he went on missions and came back home wounded. And I suppose that's it." 

"That's _it_?" Ino snorted. "All of that love stuff you kept on telling me about was the byproduct of _that_?" 

"Well," Sakura hissed as she drew blood from her lips, "not just _that_. There was a whole bunch of stuff in the middle that I can't tell you right now…but that's a part of it." 

"For what it's worth, I still don't like the guy." 

"I kn--…" 

_What the hell_? Ino grunted. _Fucking telephone line! It died again! _

~*~

It happened all of a sudden. He was cooking his beloved ramen over a cheaply made fire, and then, suddenly, BOOM! The fire died out, his ramen failed to cook properly, and now he was stuck eating semi-edible noodles. Electricity, as it turned out, was just like a nomad. It would wander around every now and then – but for the most part, it steered clear of staying in one particular place. Unfortunately the building's manager had a tendency to use his rentee's money for more…personal things, as Naruto would later find. But for the time being, he was one pissed off Uzumaki. 

"What the hell do I do now?" he slurped his ramen, "crap! The bottom's still as hard as rock," he whined, poking the food with his wooden chopstick. To his dismay, the chopstick broke. "Damn it! That was my last one!" he proceeded to drink the soup out of the Styrofoam cup. If only Iruka were here right now – then his sensei would give him all the ramen he needed. He would have slept in a clean, _free_ bed instead of the hard, squeaky mattress-thing on the other side of the room. He would have lazed around on a comfortable chair instead of the plastic kiddy's stool he sat in now. But there were limits to a man's hospitality - well, there were certainly limits to a _woman's_ hospitality. The first thing that bitch did when she moved in was comment dryly about Naruto's shaggy appearance. So what if he wasn't exactly Mr. Gung-Ho with sleek tuxedoes adorning his arse? It wasn't like everyday was a bleeding party or anything. So he moved out and vowed never to come back again except when requested – which was on occasion. 

For a while he had lived with Chouji, but when the guy's eating habits cornered Naruto to the point of extinction (and dare he say starvation) he decided to freeload off Sakura – which wasn't bad after all, considering the direction _they _had headed in. It was fast. It was furious. It was passionate. It was amorous. But was it love? Naruto doubted it. 

"Ino!" he directed his voice to The Thing, "how the hell do you get the electricity running again?" 

"Hell if I know!" she huffed. Naruto swore he could hear glass and other tidbits breaking in her room. "Damnit! And I was talking to Sakura-chan over the phone!" 

"Oh," Naruto winced. He didn't dare ask Ino any questions about he pink-haired girl; discussing the topic of Sakura with Ino was like trying to push a three ton stone boulder off of its super-glue binding to the floor – completely impossible to do unless one had special powers. Other than that, he was still widely uncomfortable with the mention of _her_ name around the house – it made him somewhat squeamish inside. 

"Good for nothing piece of crap," Ino grunted across from his position. "So I'm supposed to hook wire A to wire B for secondary electricity routes and then…" 

So Ino _did_ know how to get the electricity on again. And she was reading the directions out loud too. 

Thus Naruto went on his grim way and did what any guy would do: he went to work. 

~*~

"Naruto!" Ino stormed into his room, "how did you get your electricity back?" 

"You were reading the directions out loud," he grinned. "Why? You can't get yours back on?" 

"Of course I can," Ino clenched her fists. "I just prefer to…do it slowly. It's an art." 

"Of course it is, Ino – just like climbing up the stairs is," he nodded in approval. 

"Well-…"

"You know I can always help you," Naruto said, "you just have to say the magic word." 

"Go away?" Ino asked. 

"Fine," Naruto admitted in defeat, "if that's the way you want it," he bowed as he disappeared. 

"Who needs _his_ help?" Ino punched the air. Time to get her ass moving. 

~*~

Now that he had nowhere to go, Naruto felt quite exasperated. The ramen shop was closed for repairs (damn them). The grocery store had been attacked by a hoard of cattle (which they should have slaughtered and sold as beef). And as for other people's houses – none of them would welcome him in (as they were all sick with the 'flu'). So he decided to go to the forest – a place that he hadn't visited in a very long time. 

On the rare occasion that his 'Pissed-Off Gauge" reached maximum, Naruto retreated to the forest to calm himself down. Not only were there no beings there that could irritate him to the point of extremity, but there were no responsibilities in the forest. There were no distractions; no Sasukes to tell him he was the almighty dobe-kun; no Sakuras to tell him what to do; no Iruka-wives to tell him he was too scruffy. The forest, it seemed, would accept him as he was. 

_Now where was that --_…

"Naruto?" he whirled around, surprised at the sudden intruder. 

"Sakura?" she gave him a faint grin. "What are you doing here?" 

She shrugged. "I just like it here." 

_Fancy intruding my territory_, Naruto tried to feign nonchalance. 

"I can leave if you want." 

Obviously his discomfort must have shown. So he did the noble thing and told her she could stay because the forest wasn't _his_ anyway.

"Thanks," she nodded, sitting beside him. 

Words were never their domain – neither of them could express heartfelt emotions, or preach about their days and missions. It was always the necessary hello and goodbye – and sometimes it was the odd 'how are you,' or two. But mostly they communicated through their silence. It was silence that bound them, silence that understood them, silence that embraced them. 

And in this silence he could notice so many things around him. When the wind blew, it did not make a ghostly sound; when the leaves rustled, they did not whirl in a tornado; when the ants crawled up a hill, they did not walk in straight neat lines. And he saw her, and her sad smile, and her green eyes, and her medium-length hair and he wondered how he could not love this woman. But his thoughts ceased to ramble because he realized, for once, that he was going in a direction he did not wish to head in. So he watched the sun set with her, eyeing the blood red sky with a tinge of longing. 

"Naruto?" she asked timidly, breaking the silence. 

"Hn?" 

"You want to come over today," Sakura bit her lip, "you know, just for dinner?" 

"Umm," he stumbled, "I'm not particularly hungry tonight. Maybe, another time?" And it was the truth. He wasn't particularly hungry. 

"Alright," she sighed. I guess, I'll see you around then," she smiled brightly – stupidly even. And in that instance, she left his sight. 

_When you were 12 you would have killed yourself for that opportunity_, Naruto chuckled, _now you're dying to turn it down. _

~*~

"Argh!" Ino screamed in frustration, "Naruto, get your lazy ass in here!" 

"I thought you wanted me to go away," he whined, burying his head inside his book. Kakashi had lent him Icha Icha paradise on strict conditions that he did not distribute it to the village children. So far, Naruto had upheld his promise. 

"I do! But--…" 

"You've got to do better than _that_, Ino," Naruto took off his jacket to reveal a pair of penguin-covered pajamas. 

"_Please_," Ino whined sarcastically. 

"If I were a teacher, I would have given you an F for that," he grumbled, putting his copy of Icha Icha underneath his pillow.   
"Well you're not, so you better help me out."

"Alright," Naruto showed her, grabbing a wire, "this is wire A," he demonstrated, "this is wire B. You connect the two together," he motioned, "and then you plug it into this circuit. And ta-dah, your electricity's on again," he raised his brows daringly. 

"Oh." 

"Yes, Ino, Oh." 

"Well…" she trailed off. 

"Hey! Is that ramen?" he asked excitedly, eyeing a box in the far corner of her room.   
"Yes it is," Ino took a stance, "and fine, you can have some. But only because you helped me with the electricity." 

"Thank you Ino!" 

So he ate like no other, never minding the fact that he was not hungry at the moment. And if Ino were any other person but Ino, he would've hugged her on the spot. 

~*~

WR: o__o;;this was just whacked. Completely utterly whacked. Yes, just dropping by to say that nothing's explained yet here – more events will occur, more of the past will be revealed, less fluff will be written…And now for the voices inside my head… 

Kibo: Moo. 

Desolate: Fine. So you can't believe that anyone actually reviewed. But still. Don't be so mean. 

Kibo: Moo. 

Desolate: Yes. I know I don't rhyme. But that's too bad for you. 

Kibo: Moo. 

Desolate: Argh, where's Naruto?

Kibo: Moo. 

Desolate: He ran away?

Kibo: Moo. 

Desolate: Because the story was too fluffy? Aw. Too bad. It's a good thing that I've got Naruto catchers everywhere. 

Naurto: Woman!

Desolate: Oh. There you are. 

Naruto: …


	3. In which there is a mission

WR: Tee hee. Anyway, I will be away until Friday, so don't expect any updates until then. Anyway, I'm going to clear up a few things at the end of the chapter. And also, Naruto and Ino are not beginning to like each other. Ino is just…like that. And Naruto is just a lazy ass (sometimes). Oh yes, expect the appearing of other characters in later chapters. 

Kibo: Moo.   
Desolate: Shut up Kibo. 

Kibo: Moo. 

~*~

"Naruto!" Ino yelled, fuming as she picked up the piece of despicable trash in her room, "What the hell is _this_ doing here?" 

Naruto yawned as he scratched his stomach. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he should answer the Pit-Bull currently hounding him – but he was resting, and _damnit_, _no one_ disturbed his sleep. Besides, after that drink contest with Neji and the boys yesterday, there was no way he would get up and welcome his (rather large) hangover. 

"Naruto!" Ino stomped. One week living with the guy and she was ready to kill herself – perhaps her dying remains would be a reminder to the poor sod who would even dare to think of living with Naruto. "Hey!" she whined, nudging him in the ribs. The guy was unusually quiet for this time of the day. Perhaps there was something terri—

"Ino," Naruto muttered darkly, "get out of my way," he shoved her foot away. 

"Don't you --…" 

"I'm serious," he whispered diabolically. 

"I swear, you're so cr--…" 

But dear Ino could not have finished her sentence, for sitting in front of her was a belching Naruto. And on her foot was some warm, _hot_ liquid alloyed together with a gruesome smell. 

"Told you so," Naruto coughed, slamming his body down on the floor. "I mean, you just wouldn't go away." 

"Na-ru-to," Ino seethed. 

"What?" he blinked. 

"Argh!" she screamed in frustration, "Damn you!" she threw the piece of trash at him before finally running into her own room. 

"Women," he muttered, "such equivocal creatures." And so he rested amidst a piece of trash, scratching his stomach whilst listening to an angry Ino yelling curses at him. Life, it seemed, was normal again. 

_Just like times with Sakura, _Naruto chuckled, face buried in his pillow. _Damn girl would always yell at me in the morning, telling me to clean up the house, or wash the dishes. And she didn't even give a damn about the missions I was in – it was never, "how are you Naruto?" or "how'd it go Naruto?" It was orders, orders, orders…_

Well it was about due time he stopped taking orders – and it was about due time that Sakura grew up and learned that not everyone was willing to be her puppet. Oh yes, Lee was willing to – and certainly a couple of other boys – but Naruto was free of that strange longing to be dominated over. And besides, the old chain and ball never appealed to him. He preferred the days when he could fall asleep, scratching his stomach, without some woman cursing at him for his sloppy demeanor. He preferred going to missions, adrenaline coursing through his veins, and then falling asleep on his comfortable bed. Yes, that was what he preferred. 

But nobody got what they preferred – unless they were God. And Naruto certainly was no God. So he lived day by day, tolerating the measly little life he had been awarded with. Sometimes it was good. Sometimes Sakura would tend his wounds and tell him to be careful instead of to kill the spider on the other side of the room. Sometimes he could fall asleep with a bottle of beer in his hands, instead of with a woman in his arms. 

And after he had left Sakura, after he thought he had left behind his past, he supposed that he could live his dream everyday. But now he was stuck with Ino, who might as well have been Sakura's twin. And ironically, most sardonically of all, there was no way in hell he would move. 

~*~

"Stupid guy," Ino gritted her teeth as she cleaned her foot, "so _that's_ what he was doing last night. Celebration of a completed mission my _ass_!" she clenched her fists and proceeded to jump out the bath. 

Living with Naruto was a hell of a lot different than she had expected. True, he was a jerk at times, but he was more tolerable than some. 

_Shikamaru_¸ she shuddered. The asshole hadn't even respected her unalterable right to privacy. Come to think of it, he was always either hounding her from alpha to omega, or he was just lazing around the house, eating chips as he flipped through the channels. But there were good moments. Extremely good moments when he and she would hold hands and talk about life; when he spilled his dreams to her and rubbed her arms because it was cold. He had said, at one point that life was going perfectly for him. He had a girlfriend, who would cook miso soup and rice for him. He had three old bottles of wine in the garage, all of which he would sell upon retirement. He had a job, in which he did not receive out-of-town missions. Yes, he was a lazy ass, but sometimes he was a good lazy ass who could yap and yap but never bore. 

Ino shook her head and grinned, _the past is the past_, she thought, grabbing the batch of eggs in her refrigerator. 

"Eh?" she blinked, "why the hell is it empty?" 

_Naruto!_ She remembered him eating his ramen with three eggs at his side. _He's in trouble now!_

But when she decided to peep by his room, the blonde boy was already gone. 

~*~  
  


"Damn Tsunade," Naruto kicked the pebbles out of his way. "Calling me this early in the morning for a mission."

"Naruto, it's three in the afternoon," Neji reminded him, trailing behind as he suppressed a yawn. "Besides, she won't call us unless it's something important." 

"Well she could've called someone on commission!" he complained, tapping his foot impatiently. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying not to succumb to his hang-over, "I'm on leave, damnit." 

"As of when?" Neji raised a brow. 

"Yesterday! Remember when Lee came in and told me Tsunade had given me a break?" Naruto asked, sitting on the sidewalk. The sun seemed to be mocking him as it danced in the sky. _Damn UV rays_, he bit his tongue, _they never told us in training that we were much more likely to die of heat exposure than the missions themselves_. 

"Naruto," Neji sighed, "Lee didn't tell you that you were on leave." 

"What do you mean?" 

"He told you that there was a breeze," the boy explained, "and that a woman was having trouble with her skirt." 

"Was that why…"

"—He left early?" Neji clapped his hands, "very good Naruto. Now you can put two and two together." Naruto left the sarcastic remark to pass over his head. "You're not a very good drinker, are you?" 

"Hey!" Naruto stood up to his full height. Which was a measly inch below Neji, "I _am_ a good drinker!" 

"Yes Naruto," Neji waved him off, giving him a superior smirk, "that's why you were the big loser yesterday." 

"Hmph," Naruto scowled. Apparently the Hyuuga had not changed much over the years. Yes, he had grown and matured, and all that other shit put together – but it was still Neji-the-Egotistical-Megalomaniac on the inside. Besides, the boy still had not gotten over the fact that Naruto, of all people, had beaten him to the Jounin position. 

"Really, when the hell is Tsunade coming?" Neji growled, turning on his Byakugan. 

"How should I know?" the blonde boy picked up a rabbit and started to feed it. The thing had an unusual fetish for dried grass, it seemed. He laughed as it ran away from him, kicking dirt into his face. 

"What are you, a kid?" Neji sat down beside him, summoning three rocks to his direction before throwing them at the rabbit. "It's such a shame that such animals were created," he glared, "so useless and inessential. There is no point to their lives. Much like there is no point to ours. We are the tools of a woman whose prime ambition is to stay young forever." 

"True," Naruto lay on the ground, "but we could quit anytime. We could live for ourselves, build our own cities – we all have the power to do that. But we choose to stay," he closed his eyes, "because this place suits us. We are at home here. We eat, we breathe, we sleep, we drink, we play games and sing here. Maybe we are a tool for Tsunade, or a puppet for the village. But at least we are being used for a purpose in which we believe in." 

"Cut the crap about protecting the village," Neji gripped the blonde's shirt, "if our goal was to protect the village then it would suffice that we stay here and defend it if an attack were to come. There are no such needs for assassinations and late-night plots for invasions," he stared at the blonde, baring his teeth as he tried to make his point. 

"Well," Naruto stood, wiping the dust off of his pants, "I know you've had more than your fair share of despair," he stretched, "but if you keep dwelling on it then I suppose it's only logical that you stop what you're doing. Whatever you decide to do, you better stand up now," he commanded, "Tsuande's here." 

And for once, Neji shut his trap hole at exactly the right moment. 

~*~  
  


"I hate men," Tsunade yelled, scaring away more than a few animals. 

"And why exactly should that be?" Naruto raised a brow, wondering what her current dilemma was. If it was not Jiraiya chasing after three hundred young girls at a time, it was Jiraiya engrossed in his own perverted novels. Come to think of it, Icha Icha paradise was still underneath his pillow. If Ino found it there, then it was safe to say that Naruto would no longer be alive for the next sunrise. Ino had a strange hatred for perverts and the like. 

"Orochimaru," she tried to explain, breathless. "There's been reports that --…" she motioned for the two to sit down, "There's been reports that he's gathering his minions again." 

"But I thought we…" Naruto protested, receiving a wondrous glare from both Tsunade and Neji. 

"Yes, yes," Tsunade rolled her eyes; "you infiltrated his bases and terminated them all. But Big O's still alive and he's resurrecting his power." 

"Like you and your youth," Neji muttered sarcastically. Much to the dismay of Naruto, Tsunade did not catch the insult. 

"Anyway, Big O and his little people are planning something, well…big." 

"What wonderful vocabulary she has," Neji whispered to Naruto. The blonde grimaced as Tsunade continued to explain. 

"I've got people telling me that Big O's planning to invade the Mist, the Sand, and us." 

"So--…" 

"Wait!" Tsunade held up her hand, "Sasuke's going to be his right-hand-man." 

"Sasuke?" Naruto whispered, shuddering in disgust at the mention of the Uchiha's name. "But I thought he was labeled as inactive." 

"Not anymore, sonny boy," Tsunade grabbed her bag, taking out a bottle of beer, "Sasuke's back and he's better than ever," she took a large sip before smashing the bottle on a nearby rock. "You see that?" the two boys nodded, "that's how easily he can kill now. He hasn't got the heart you do, Naruto. And he hasn't got your patience, Neji. He's fallen in love with his ambition, and he will eliminate whatever is in his way." 

"So I suppose you've called us to stop him and Orochi-chan?" Naruto asked excitedly. 

"Oh!" Tsunade clapped her hands, "how did you guess?" 

"Any fool could have done so," the Hyuuga replied. 

"A jackass as always, Hyuuga," Tsunade commented, "I see you've even mastered your skills of lame insults and idiotic commentaries. Don't think that your little whispers have gotten by me. I might be old, but I got good ears boy." 

"You got a team ready for us, Tsunade?" Naruto interrupted their daily glaring. Neji and Tsunade were not what one might call 'best friends.' In fact, they were quite the opposite. Why, just a while ago Neji had won a round of darts after pinning Tsuande's picture on the board. And Tsunade herself had injured a man in sleep whilst dreaming that she was killing Neji. 

"Yes. They're all in the village, so you ain't going to have problems calling 'em in," Tsunade grunted. "Most of 'em are Jounin, but I've got a bunch of Chuunin there who I think'll bring good to the team – healers, and spirit-people and everything. You'll both be the captains, but don't let rivalry get in your way," Tsunade warned, giving them leeway to back out. "You both in this, right?" The two nodded. "Well, I better give you the list then. If there're any problems, you can contact me," she handed them the paper, filled to the brim with her illegible scrawl. "Meanwhile, I've got Jiraiya to slaughter, and a novel to burn!" she grinned, taking off. 

"I knew it," Naruto slammed his teeth together, "what did Open Pervert do _now_?" 

"Hey, Naruto," the Hyuuga grabbed him, pulling Naruto his way, "check the list out. It's crazy! She wants Yamanaka, Haruno, and Konohamaru in!"

~*~

Now Naruto had no problem with his team. Really. Well, except for Konohamaru and his groupies who would more than likely trail after him like a bunch of slugs. And Sakura, who would whine and whine because her hair was not properly cared for. And Ino, who would sleep until the sun went up, and down, then up again, and demand that the men clean up the tents daily so that cockroaches would not create more families. No, he had no problem at all. In fact, his team was great! There was Shikamaru, and Lee, and Neji, and him…and…him…and Lee…and Neji…and Shika—

"Damnit!" he yelled. His team was crap. What the hell was Tsunade thinking? Having a bunch of Chuunin on the team was dangerous. Having a gamut of untalented Chuunin was even more dangerous. They could have given him Chouji, or even Hinata – but Ino, Sakura, and Konohamaru? That was an absurdity he could not comprehend. If, for example, the three were rendered useless, there would only be four men left to complete the job. Four men to take down Big O, his bitch Sasuke, and their little underlings, were certainly not enough. 

"We're dead men, Naruto," Neji muttered gravely. It seemed as though this time, his prophecy would come true. "Giving us people like them is probably going to inspire Orochi-chan instead of kill him." 

"Do you wish to commit seppuku?" Naruto brought out his shuriken. 

"Right now, yes," Neji answered, "after this mission is over and has failed – I will already be dead so seppuku will be impossible." 

"Yeah," Naruto chuckled, "I suppose we should assemble our supposed team soon." 

"See you tomorrow. 3 pm at Lee's." 

"Does he know?" 

"He will soon," Neji replied, "he will soon." 

~*~  
  


"Soon," Ino told Sakura, cradling the phone between her neck and ear. "Soon he'll come back to you. It's not like he's enjoying his time here." 

"But -…" Now Sakura was her friend. Her _best_ friend, one might say. But her daily outbursts and obsessions, which all dealt with Naruto and his current lack of 'fidelity', were certainly becoming obsolete and, frankly, annoying. She expected the pink-haired woman to cry over the boy for three days at the most. But for a week? And perhaps more? It was like hell multiplied twice, then squared and quadrupled. And people said she couldn't do math. Hah. That showed them. 

"Look, Sakura, I have to go now. Someone's at the door," Ino informed her, turning off the phone before the other girl could say goodbye. It was true. Someone _was_ knocking at the door – so it wasn't her fault that she had to hang up on Sakura. 

"Come in!" Ino yelled, surprised to find Naruto storming into her room. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, more out of curiosity and surprise, rather than contempt.

"Mission. You," he explained, "in my team."

_Ah, _she thought, _so that explains the sour expression on his face_. 

"What's the mission on?" she asked. And so he spilled the story to her. How Orochimaru had resurrected from the 'dead;' how Sasuke was his right-hand man; how Tsunade screwed over his supposed holiday. 

"And then you have us, eh?" Ino asked, reading his mind, "Three useless ninja coupled together with you Jounin." 

"I didn't mean it that way," Naruto insisted. But he did – and he supposed that it was useless to mask it over. Disappointment, it seemed, was just an emotion he could not cover. Pain was easy to mask. Happiness was easy to facilitate. But when his little friend, Disappointment, came, his acting skills were not honed well enough to cover it. 

"Don't worry," Ino laughed, "we've improved quite a lot over the past few months. You haven't seen us fight since last year when you were judging the Jounin exams. We're not as naïve as we were before." 

"But--…"

"No, we're not as good as you guys. We never will be," Ino poked him in the chest, "but you've just got to face that. Now, when is our meeting?" 

"Three pm, Lee's," Naruto sighed, happy the ordeal was over with. 

"Great!" Ino brightened. 

"I really am sorry about --…" Naruto festered. 

"Don't worry about it," the blonde grinned, ruffling his hair as she stood up, "so what do you want for dinner?" 

"Dinner?" he asked, surprised at her sudden generosity. 

"Yes, as in something to eat. A meal you take at night." 

"Ramen!" Naruto answered excitedly. 

"I knew it!" Ino laughed, "Two bowls of ramen coming up!" 

And for once, in a very long time, Naruto felt that Sometime running up to him, telling him that maybe, just maybe, Life was not set out to murder him. 

~*~

WR: Tee hee. This was a weird chapter to write. Anyway, something to clear up – the hole is still there because the landlord, who should have 'cleaned' it up, used his rentee's money for other purposes – I guess I didn't make that too clear in the last chapter (the thing with the electricity) ^_^;; Sorry about that! 

Kibo: Moo. 

Desolate: Hah. Naruto. You shall stay with me. 

Naruto: Kyuubi!  
Desolate: Aww. You're so cute. 

Naruto: Go!

Desolate: (_is scorched by Kyuubi's fire_) Damn it. 

Kibo: Moo. 


End file.
